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Users will have to sign up to the new terms and conditions but it isn’t entirely clear how the app will enforce the rule.

An Ofcom report in 2017 showed that a third of 12-15 year-olds in the UK active on social media use the app, reports the BBC.

The exact reason for the change has not been disclosed, but it is understood to be linked the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on May 25.

WhatsApp is making changes for its younger users (Image: Getty)

Under-sixteens using the app in other continents will still only have to be 13.

In a blog announcing the changes, a spokesperson for WhatsApp said: “If you live in a country in the European region, you must be at least 16 years old to use our services or such greater age required in your country to register for or use our services.

“If you live in any other country except those in the European region, you must be at least 13 years old.”

Users will now also be able to download a report of the data the service has of theirs.

The blog added: “WhatsApp cares deeply about your privacy and security. Every message and call is secured by end-to-end encryption so that no one, not even WhatsApp, can read or listen to your conversations.”

Commenting on the Mirror website, user ImmyK said: "They should have some strict parental verification. Imagine how many kids you could protect just by them not having the ability to access these platforms."